Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador shared a photo he claimed shows an elf-like creature from Mayan mythology, NBC News reports.
"I share two photos of our supervision of the Mayan Train works: one, taken by an engineer three days ago, apparently from an aluxe; another, by Diego Prieto of a splendid pre-Hispanic sculpture in Ek Balam," he wrote in a tweet alongside two photos, per a translation from Spanish by Google. "Everything is mystical."
One of the photos appears to show a figure with glowing trees, looking down from one. The president claimed it’s an aluxe, which is an elf-like creature from Mayan folklore. The creatures were said to inhabit forests and have been described as mischievous, per various writings on mythology from Mayan civilization.
Les comparto dos fotos de nuestra supervisión a las obras del Tren Maya: una, tomada por un ingeniero hace tres días, al parecer de un aluxe; otra, de Diego Prieto de una espléndida escultura prehispánica en Ek Balam. Todo es místico.
The tweet has so far received over seven million views, with some criticizing the president. Journalist Mauricio Schwarz, for instance, indicated that the alleged photographic proof of an aluxe has circulated on social media in the past. He said that it first made the rounds in Nuevo León in February 2021, and Thailand later that same year.
@lopezobrador_ Sí, Andrés, un ingeniero hace tres días tomó una foto que hace las rondas en Nuevo León desde febrero de 2021 y en Tailandia desde diciembre de ese año. Das pena, mucha pena... y el país más... Si te lo crees, eres tonto... si sabes que mientes, eres malévolo...
"If you believe it, you are stupid," said Schwarz. "If you know you are lying, you are malicious."
